Damage assessment of a concrete arch dam through nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis

Damage assessment of concrete arch dams is carried out through nonlinear Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) of a typical arch dam. In this study the Morrow Point arch dam is subjected to a set of 12 three-component earthquakes each scaled to 12 increasing intensity levels. The dam–foundation interaction effects have been investigated by varying foundation's modulus of elasticity to be equal and half of dam concrete's modulus of elasticity. Damage propagation through the dam body is investigated and various IDA curves are created. The performance and various limit-states of the dam structure are examined based on the obtained results. Simple damage indices are proposed through comparison of response demands in earthquake analysis with the determined structural capacities. It was found that the proposed damage indices can properly indicate state of damage in the dam body.

► The Incremental Dynamic Analysis is extended to the field of concrete arch dams. ► Seismic performance of the structure and its various limit states are recognized. ► Categorization of the seismic damage is attempted. ► The effects of the foundation flexibility are investigated. ► Simple damage indexes are proposed for seismic damage assessment of arch dams.